Whole Milk - Lake Oswego,OR

My personal feeling is that babies shouldn't be weaned to cow's milk at 12 months. Cow's milk is designed to grow a baby cow, not a human child. I would switch to formula (if you can get him to drink it), as formula is at least balanced for human growth.

DO NOT GIVE YOUR SON SOY MILK! One serving of soy has as much estrogen as a birth control pill. Small growing boys DO NOT need it, in fact it's probably really harmful.

You can give rice milk, hemp milk (really high in nutrition), or almond milk. Hemp milk is the best of these choices (if you don't want to use formula, which is the closest to breast milk).

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Is there some reason you need to wean him this early? 12 months is so young to take the comfort and nutrition of breast milk from him; the benefits of breastfeeding from yourself. May I ask why you want to wean? If you must though, formula would be a better option.

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your son does not need milk after breastmilk. we are the only animal to consume another animal's milk, and the only one to consume milk into adulthood. if you want to stop, perhaps consider pumping. soy is not a good option because it is very taxing on infant kidneys. if you are certain this is your choice then goat is going to be the most gentle on his system. i agree with your choice to avoid juices. i personally went straight to water. occasionally my little ones will drink organic unsweetened almond or rice milk as an option. the added sugar is absolutely unnecessary. hope this helps.

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I have to agree: unless your son has a specific need for whole milk, you can go without it. "Going chocolate" will only create problems for you and your son in the long run. Trust me--I've seen it happen!

Soy milk, by the way, has very high levels of estrogen in it. This isn't problematic for growing girl, but should be avoided for growing boys. Other non-dairy substitutes could be rice milk (which many peds will suggest for Lactose Intolerant boys) and almond milk.

Other posters have suggested that cheeses and yogurts are other great ways to offer calcium. My son still nurses, but he's 20 months and I know that my milk probably does not offer the same nutritional value that it did when he was much younger. We have chosen not to use cows milk, but he is happy with cottage cheese, cream-top yogurt (which has good fats that are essential for brain development) and some hard cheeses. Our pediatrician is very happy with this. So, please, don't sweat it. Keep offering healthy foods--awesome to see that you are avoiding introducing juice until absolutely necessary!-- and he'll be just fine! Kids all have their preferences, and this isn't one to worry about.

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You got a lot of great advice about the milk. I applaud you for not giving him juice. It's so highly concentrated in sugars. High amounts of sugar are bad for so many reasons. Main reason at our house is it causes diarrhea. Since you don't give him juice, I was surprised to see you have been giving him chocolate syrup! Slow down on that for his little body. Lot's of sugar there. We have to read labels and stay away from HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. It is so highly concentrated in sugars it's ridiculous!

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I think that this happens with the majority of kids - my ped. said that my son would (and could) go without milk for 2-3 days, but that if I switched to whole milk exclusively, he wouldn't even last that long...if you are still nursing, what is the incentive to switch? So, give it 2-3 days without nursing, only offering milk, and see if he gives in... You can also try doing 3/4 breast milk mixed with 1/4 cows, then the next day do half an half, then continue to reduce the breast milk...but we just went cold turkey and it worked just fine!

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Hi A.,

If he is a good eater, then you can switch him to goat's milk. That is far better and more nutritional than soy or cow milk. How often is he nursing? If he is mostly nursing exclusively, then the switch is not a good time unless you want to supplement with formula. My daughter was not a good milk drinker, but I was able to get her to eat other dairy products and dark leafy greens like spinach for fat and calcium. For other fats and healthy nutrition she also ate very well avacados, salmon, asparagus, brown rice, spinach lasagna, kidney beans, eggs, chicken, shrimp, etc. She eats very healthy and isn't picky, so that made me more comfortable with allowing a transitional. She did continue to nurse in the evenings before bed and in the mornings, but she was pretty much day weaned and most of the time night weaned. Perhaps you can day wean and maintain some supplemental nursing for bonding and comfort as well as the nutritional and health benefits.

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Why are you giving him milk? For vitamin D and fat? THose things can be found in other foods. There is no reason why you HAVE TO give him milk. You can give him a liquid baby vitamin if you will want to...

Cow milk is over-rated. :) Nothing will happen to him if he doesn't drink it.

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To get my sons to drink milk I started out slow by mixing 1/4 milk with 3/4 breast milk (or formula). Then after a couple of days make it half and half, then mostly milk, and finally all milk. This worked great for my boys. I also would not let him breast feed or he may fight the milk simply because it is in a cup and he wants the breast.

Here is an option of a great nutritional source you can add to either water or milk which is yummy tasting also and safe for a 1 year old. It comes in chocolate and vanilla and is manufactured at near pharmaceutical grade. We have been giving these shakes to our children now for over 4 years and they not only don't deal with seasonal allergies anymore but their immune systems are strong and healthy! Here is a link to the page off the website highlighting the children's product.
http://www.reliv.com/US/EN/KidsHealth-NowforKidsCoolPunch...
Email me if you want to learn more and possibly try these products. ____@____.com

Personally I don't believe that a baby MUST drink milk other than breastmilk. I have a 13 month old that won't touch milk out of a cup (we are still breastfeeding)but I do give her other things that I know will give her the same benefit (if you want to call it that). I think it is helpful to remember that humans are the only species that routinely consumes the milk of another animal. That and the fact that we process milk to death (and in Oregon it is not legal to sell (therefore buy) raw milk) as far as I am concerned, the fact that she doesn't like cow's milk doesn't bend my nose out of shape. I do cook her morning cereal (organic brown rice farina from Bob's Red Mill) in milk (organic non-homogonized) rather than water and I give her raw milk cheese as well as yogurt that I make myself (when I have time) or Greek yogurt I buy at Trader Joe's.

As long as your son consumes food that will give him calcium and is drinking enough fluid, I wouldn't be too concerned with the fact that he doesn't like other milks. I have my suspicion of allergies when my kids are adamantly opposed to eating something.

Good luck to you!

P.S. I am going to repost some information I posted a while ago about milk. I hope you will take the time to read it.

From: K. C Date: Fri. Oct. 24, 2008
I think that you should read these links before you decide what to do.

http://www.naturalnews.com/024266.html

http://www.kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/02/healthy-milk.html

I KNOW this runs contrary to nearly everything you have ever heard about milk. For those of you who have New Season's around,they carry Organic Valley, non-homogenized whole milk with cream on top.

It's hard, you don't want to give your kid with something with sugar in it...yet breast milk is sweet so sometimes it's a hard transition. We transitioned to whole milk, but I tried my hardest to transition to soy, but at the time I was VERY against sugar in it. Now the only milk she can have is soy milk because she gets constipated otherwise....but she doesn't like the plain or the vanilla kind..so i'm stuck giving her chocolate soy milk..but she's only allowed it once a day (shes 2.5) the rest of the time she gets water with a TINY bit of juice in it. More water than Juice.

Not sure if that helps, but we've been through the same problems.

J. Van Riper
Director of Operations
Portland CityMommy Forums
http://portland.citymommy.com
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My 10 month old daughter just self-weaned from nursing and won't drink milk of any kind or formula. My doctor said that as long as she is eating yogurt - which she loves - not to worry. Her favorite breakfast is all natural vanilla yogurt with cheerios. You might want to try it.

i have had to make all three of my kids bottles with alittle vanilla yogurt. I buy the organic whole milk vanilla yogurt. to a 9oz bottle i use 8 oz milk and about 1oz yogurt and eventually start putting in less and less. i feel like your breastmilk is sweeter than regular milk and i breastfeed all three of my kids.

Hi A.-

Neither of my toddlers like milk, either. At first I worried about it, but my peditrician said that it's actually not the source of calcium and vitamin D that's important, it's just getting enough of them. Both of my kids love cheese and yogurt, fruits and veggies, so we load up on those. I feel like they get a balanced diet this way, too, rather then filling up on lots of high-fat milk.

I feel milk is highly over-rated. Keep in mind that it's designed to grow a 90lb. calf into a 2000lb. cow within two years! Both of my toddlers went from breastfeeding to water and a balanced diet and have been very healthy!

-J.

Adding Chocolate to it is not a good thing. I would do a couple of things.
Get http://pediasure.com/ To mix with the milk.
Or I would use http://www.ovaltineusa.com/
Or you can pump and mix your milk with real milk, and slowly decrees your milk.
Children get their own likes and dislikes. The fun part is trying to figure them out.
Just try to be careful not to get him use to getting the "special" milk, this could be an issue down the road with teeth, and with him being willing to eat.
Good Luck
B.
www.SouthSoundDoula.com

My boys both liked the taste of Ovaltine as "chocolate milk". Compared to chocolate syrup, it's lower in sugar and has a lot of added vitamins. I started out making it more chocolatey and then weaned it out until I was only putting a spoonful into a 8oz sippy cup. Then when they got older and wanted chocolate milk or hot chocolate for a treat, I would still use the Ovaltine.

My son still won't drink any kind of milk, and he's 4 1/2. But he refuses to drink anything but water, and he does eat yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese. He also loves calcium rich veggies, so that's what I emphasize with him.

I wish now that my daughter would drink more water. She ONLY wants milk, and yet she doesn't need for all her liquids to be milk. So I'm trying to get her to drink more water.

No advice to give. Just thought I'd share

How about expressing breast milk and mixing cow's milk with it? You can reduce the amount of breast milk gradually until he's on 100% cow's milk. I did this by replacing another ounce every few days. Within a couple of weeks he was on totally on cow's milk.

My son also didn't like milk, but the trick seemed to be strawberry syrup (he didn't like the chocolate either.)

My daughter had bad reactions to cow's milk and soy milk, but LOVES plain rice milk. I've grown to love it too. Good luck!

Maybe he sees the situation in the opposite light. Maybe he's not interested in storebought milk because he knows he can get breast milk. Perhaps if you take away the breastmilk, he'll turn to the other milk to get what he needs.

(That's just a suggestion. I have no experience with this problem.)

Happy snow day!

I have a 14 months old and am ready to wean from pumping at work (no intention to wean completely here, though).My daughter also despises cow's milk, chocolate milk and formula. She will take a mix of my milk with whole milk though and she will ONLY drink this when I am not around. Maybe you can have dad offer him a mix and then slowly change to cow's milk completely.
Good luck.

Hey A.,
you certainly have gotten alot of differing advice, just use what you want and take it all with a grain of salt. I have a 14 month old who also didn't care for the taste of milk so I give him Whole milk Lactaid. It has everything that whole milk has, just not the lactose and for some reason it is sweeter but no sugar is added. My son will drink it. (He is also breastfed) I actually am now adding half whole milk and half whole milk lactaid to his sippy cup, and he will drink that just fine. I hope this helps...good luck! P.S. I think he needs the whole milk. ;-)

Just keep trying the whole milk. My daughter originally refused it as well, but she'll now drink a couple ounces when we offer it to her. You might try warming the milk just a little so it's closer to mama milk.

Hi A. - Kids switch when they are ready not when we are ready. Both my boys nursed until they were about 13 months. My older son naturally did it on his own and my younger son was a little more forced because I had to leave on a business trip. If you can keep nursing & let him lead, but if you need to change due to other reasons then that can be done successfully. With my younger one we slowly cut back on the amount of times I nursed, and he was given other drink options. For juice, sure whole fruit is great but one thing to maybe try is water down the juice. We did that for a long time for our kids & they don't know the difference but I know that the sugar is cut back. I also read the labels to make sure it is 100% juice & not the juice mix. Sometimes we gave our kids a choice with drinks (small amount in sippy cups) and given time they will start to drink what is given them. It was like when the boys at different times did not want to eat what we were eating and they realized that they would get it for the next meal, so they learned quickly. Now my boys love veggies & fruit and have less issue with trying something new.

Talk to your peditrician about your concerns. They may have other direct advice since they know your son's medical history too. Part of your son's thing is he is learning that he can control his choices and it empowers them. Help him with those good choices. One other thing is DO NOT use soy milk for little kids, especially boys! It has issues with their growing. Another idea is also work with a nutritionist to make sure your son and family is getting everything you need. For my younger son he was placed on Almond Milk and loves it. He is now 5 and has been on Almond milk for about 1 year and loves having "his special milk" that no one can have. I found it at one (not both) of our local stores. I watch for sales & then stock up. It is shelf stable so it only goes in the fridge when opened. I would ditch the chocolate syrup or he may start demanding that & then you will have to break that habit.

Overall my recommendation is talk to your peditrician (just place a call or at your next regular appointment) plus talk to a nutritionist. Hope this helps & take care

One thing I made sure of was that I warmed the milk up so it was closer to the warmth of breast milk. If you aren't already doing so, maybe try that as well as the other suggestions.

Hi A., I'm also an anti juice person and my daughter, 13mo is down to one bottle of cow's milk per day in the morning. She was bottle fed for 12 months on breast milk I pumped so the transition wasn't hard. She doesn't like milk out of a sippy cup only water. I was initially really concerned about this, but she is a good eater otherwise, lots of veggies, yogurt and cheese so I'm not so concerned anymore that she has to get a certain amount of cow's milk. We do suppliment with vitamins too. I wouldn't recommend trying to sweeten up the milk unless you want to do it forever. Have you tried mixing your breast milk with increasing amounts of cows milk until he is fully on cow milk? You might give that a try. Good luck!

Hey A.,
We had a similar issue about 2 months ago when my son was 10 months. What really worked for us was vanilla pedisure. We gradually mixed it with whole milk. Because it's so sweet it's similar to breast milk. It took about 2 good weeks to finally get him off breast milk and onto whole milk. Yay! Good luck!
A. and 1 year old Kye

I was going to give the same advice as Emily K. Many children can't tolerate the switch to 100% cow's milk. My ds developed a terrible diaper rash in doing so. I started with a 25/75 mix of milk/formula for 3 days. (I was still bf'ing too, but the formula was just easier to mix with the milk) Then went to a 50/50 mix for a few days, 75/25...etc.

Plus I also warmed it. I had to warm his milk for a long time - at least 4-5 months or he wouldn't drink it.

if you are going to go with milk as a priority, I agree with a lot of these suggestions, especially warming it, and also with the you can get calcium, D, etc. from other foods if milk is just not gonna work out ...

... also try different brands (I do organic, and Organic Valley, because it is pasture-fed, the milk from different 'bottlers' tastes different ... so my kids happily drink the Organic Valley milk from New Seasons' supplier, but the Organic Valley milk from Fred Meyer's supplier (I presume a different facility, as the cartons were even a little different for a long time) not so much ... I know when I was a kid we could drink the Alberstons milk and the Safeway milk, but there was somewhere else that sometimes we would get and it was just NASTY ...)
...rather than adding chocolate, add a smidge of vanilla ... TOTALLY works. Warm "vanilla milk" is still a big sell around here when I can't get the kids to calm down and chill out for dinner or bedtime, and vanilla adds no sugar ;)

On the other hand, I am a big believer in the kids needs to be part of the weaning decision ... but I know not every mom can let that happen, and I weaned my first "early" for her at 22 months (my others weaned at 16-ish, 20-ish, and 14-ish) ... but I still see the effects of weaning my first before she was ready to let go of that mommy-time.

Pray/consider/walk in love. Watch your baby for what he needs to make this milk thing alright :).

I was recently telling someone, I can't imagine who was the first human to think, hey, I bet _I_ could drink milk from that hoofed animal ;). There are large chunks of humanity that literally don't carry the genes to deal with that ancient choice by a few ... four genetic groups in Africa and one in Northern Europe provide all the adult-lactose-tolerance in the world, they think now ... so, play it by ear ;).

You could try mixing the milk with breastmilk and slowly changing the mixture to be cow's milk over time. He may be having trouble getting used to the flavor. You could also try that with formula if he will drink that. Good luck.

lots of good advice... my son didn't like milk when I weaned him...so we just gave him lots of cheese and yogurt.. some calcium enriched orange juice...